The Spear vs. The Hook: Understanding the Difference Between Traditional and Social Marketing
Hunting is about obtaining food. Marketing is about obtaining sales. Either way, you can’t eat unless you first understand how to use the proper tools. A spear is a distance weapon. You refine the tip until it’s razor sharp and guaranteed to cut through anything…
Letting Go in the New Year: What Is YOUR Company So Afraid Of?
The Buzz Bin’s Mike Mulvihill kicks off the new year with an excellent observation about social media: the way companies obsess over “controlling the message” is strangling the industry. In Mulvihill’s own words (emphasis mine): I’d love to see a survey of how many of…
AT&T vs. Verizon: Why Bad PR Is Still Good for You
In Andrew Cherwenka’s recent case study, he explains how AT&T used Facebook to defend themselves against Verizon’s claims of a better 3G network, and how that plan backfired when the very customers AT&T expected to rally to their defense instead fell silent while the conversation…
Facebook vs. AOL: Why the Information Superhighway Still Has a Dinosaur Lane
As TechCrunch noted this week, Facebook has surpassed AOL as the fourth most-trafficked website on the planet. And while that news may not seem particularly surprising to the millions of Facebook users, here’s the really astounding part: AOL is still the fifth most-trafficked website on…
3 Lessons We Learned from One Social Media Campaign
This past week, we wrapped up a short social media campaign we’d been involved with for a client, Bigelow Tea. As is often the case, what didn’t work is just as valuable (if not more so) than what did work, and we thought you might…
Teaching Marketing: What If No One Knows the Answers?
There’s a great conversation happening on Amber Naslund’s blog, where she asks: What does the next generation of marketing professionals need to know? The answers from her readers are practical, including: Critical thinking Storytelling Consumer behavior How to engage with multiple (and quickly-changing) demographics The…
Shopping With Purpose: Madison Avenue Gives Kids a Brighter Holiday
On December 6, The Children’s Aid Society (our client) will have their biggest fundraiser of the year: Miracle on Madison. Every year, stores up and down Madison Avenue donate a portion of that day’s proceeds to help provide health services and other crucial necessities to…
What Your Own Kids Can Teach You About Better Messaging
Ever wonder if your messaging sticks with your audience? Just ask your kids. When we joined Cindi Bigelow on a trip to her alma mater (Boston College), we were blown away by just how many college students drink tea (we figured college was a serious…
3 Social Media Case Studies, 1 Central Lesson
Your social media presence is only as useful as the change it triggers in your business. To that end, here are 3 recent case studies we’ve found, along with the lessons explained (or implied) by each: The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) called in its bloggers…
Cancer: A Love Story
Cancer can be terrifying, especially to those of us who’ve never had it. A loved one’s diagnosis can seem like a death sentence. The future suddenly feels finite, and our formerly limitless possibilities now appear inconsequential in the cold, clinical light of science. But the…